It’s Clippers’ Night in the Sun : With Manning Aboard, L.A. Wins Home Opener

And they lived happily ever after?

For a day anyway.

Bitterness and any notion of a contract dispute fell by the wayside just in time for the Clippers’ home opener, just in time for Danny Manning to reaffirm why he is regarded as a future National Basketball Assn. star, just in time for the Clippers to win an overtime thriller by beating the Phoenix Suns, 138-127, before a Sports Arena crowd of 13,826 Saturday night.

The Clippers (2-3), ahead by 12 points early in the third quarter, led for most of the game until Eddie Johnson’s jumper from the left side tied it, 90-90. Seconds later, Johnson converted a free throw for a 3-point play, then hit two free throws to give Phoenix a 95-90 lead with 7:52 remaining.

From there, the lead exchanged hands until the end of regulation when Benoit Benjamin, who had a career-high 19 rebounds, grabbed a Charles Smith miss and scored inside to make it 115-115, sending the game into overtime.

The second half belonged to Johnson, who scored 43 of his 45 points after halftime, including the overtime period. That broke the record for most points against the Clippers in a half--set when Johnson scored 33 last December.

Overtime, however, belonged to the Clippers. Quintin Dailey scored the first two baskets en route to 28 points off the bench on 12-of-17 shooting, Norm Nixon (18 points) also added two, and the lead was 124-117. That was a large enough cushion for the Clippers’ victory.

“I thought Benoit played one of his finest games ever,” Clipper Coach Gene Shue said of Benjamin, who also had 24 points and 5 blocked shots. “He rebounded, he blocked shots and he was active.”

Manning made 6 of 10 shots for 12 points and added 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot in 27 minutes. Most important, he showed no negative effects of his inactivity since the Olympic Games.

“The team did a great job of trying to get me involved in the game,” Manning said. “I just wanted to come out and play good defense. It’s hard to fit in the offense right away, but the team did a good job of getting me the ball when I was open.”

The Clippers found themselves in a pinch on a day they had eagerly awaited. Even with Manning, the roster, for all intents and purposes, was at 10 by game time. Twenty-four hours earlier, it was at 12. But that was before:

--Reserve forward Joe Wolf suffered a groin injury at practice Friday and did not dress for the game. He could also miss the next 3 or 4, or more, depending on how he feels.

--A surprising and complicated series of events that forced the Clippers to cut two players--guard Tom Garrick and forward Dave Popson--instead of the expected one to make room for Manning.

The Clippers had spent long hours over the past weeks discussing with NBA officials ways to sign Manning while remaining under the salary cap. Moreover, the league was involved in the negotiations that led to Friday’s contract agreement and the subsequent arrival of the No. 1 draft pick.

So what happened Saturday morning, 8 hours before the home opener?

The Clippers were told that Manning’s $1.5-million deal for 1988-89 would put them over the limit because of a miscalculation with another player’s contract. To stay under the cap, the Clippers had to waive both Popson and Garrick, to clear $200,000.

According to the specifics of the salary cap, the Clippers will be able to reclaim one or both of the players in 48 hours, if another team has not already done so, at $100,000. They can exceed the limit of $7.232 million to complete the roster at 12 players. The only stipulation is that the 12th player must be paid the league minimum.

Whether both Garrick, an off-guard the Clippers like, and Popson, acquired on waivers the day before the regular season opened, return will depend on the health of Wolf and the availability of Garrick and Popson.

For the short-handed Clippers, the available forwards Saturday night were Manning and Smith, both rookies; Grant Gondrezick, primarily an off-guard but a small forward in a crunch, and second-year player Ken Norman. Add that to Manning’s already hectic day and it thrust the newest arrival into the game plan with more immediacy than expected.

“He’s in the rotation (of forwards) already because we don’t have anybody else to put in,” Shue said before the game.

Manning, the 1988 college player of the year, entered the game with 4:35 to play in the first quarter, replacing fellow Olympian Smith, and missed his first 3 shots, but he finished strong.

Matched up most of the time against Tom Chambers, the Suns’ leading scorer with an average of 21.8 points a game, Manning’s best move early was an off-balance pass at midcourt that led to a Norman basket.

Clipper Notes

Norm Nixon, injured the past 2 seasons, played his first regular-season game at the Sports Arena since April 12, 1986. Many in the crowd gave him a standing ovation.. . . Friends again: Clipper owner Donald T. Sterling and Ron Grinker, agent for Danny Manning, sat together courtside. . . . The Clippers play Tuesday night in Portland.